01
What if I’m not a Maker or a Do-er?
No problem! We’re starting the recruitment focusing on people with goods and services to offer to their neighbors which will be followed by recruiting buyers.
We also ask that you take another minute to consider if you might want to become a maker or a doer.
Is there something you do like to make, bake, or do for fun? This could be your chance to sell your hobby that’s overrunning your home or indulge in your love of cooking without having to eat ALL the leftovers.
02
Do I have to live here?
Nope. As long as you’re wanting to help support the community, and watershed, in the area of Tannehill you don’t have to live within the boundaries of the watershed. Please know that community members will expect items for sale to be located in and directly surrounding the watershed.
03
What is a watershed? Why did you pick the watershed?
Honestly we never knew what the watershed was before this either. A watershed is the area of land whose water all drains into a particular body of water, in our case Tannehill Creek. Austin keeps data on all the watersheds and what the water quality is like.
Learn more about the Tannehill Creek Watershed here.
Communities have grown around specific water sources for thousands of years. Improving our land and thus water is one very direct local way we can help with global warming.
Organizing around the watershed also transcends artificial boundaries that humans have created with our highways and neighborhoods.
In our particular area, IH-35 was historically used to enforce racist policies like redlining. We want to create something different.
04
How can my small business empower my community?
Our virtual marketplace takes a small transaction fee (5%), as every platform does. Instead of that money paying solely for the software or management of the system, in our case the money goes into a community fund.
That community fund will fund projects that are important to the community AND to keep the system running by paying the admins and platform hosting. This keeps all the money spent in the community in the community.
05
Who decides what those community projects are and how they are funded?
The suggestions currently on the website have been proposed by the admin team based on our mission and priorities.
As the community grows, members will be able to propose and vote on which projects they want funded.
All of our current ideas are focused on giving more support to community members, through helping give caregivers a break, providing education to help people get closer to their dreams, sharing food and other items within our community, or contributing to our health.
06
Who is on the admin team and is there space for me to join?
The admin team currently consists of 7 people with a variety of skills and backgrounds, including the writers of the Anti-Fragile Playbook. One of us has graphic skills, one is a baker, two have experience in the healthcare industry, and several of us have experience building communities or coops that work differently.
While we don’t want the admin team to grow too large we do want to more closely represent the population and diversity that exists in the area we are serving. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out.
07
If I want to donate, how is that donation used?
Currently donations are going to support the work of the team building the community and will pay for things like fliers, outreach, and the customization of the community activation app for our use.
08
Are there any rules to joining this community?
Yes there will be rules. Those are still being decided by the admin team. The admin team reserves the right to adapt the rules to the needs of the community. We are also conscious of rules being used to enforce racist and patriarchal systems which we do not wish to emulate.
